After suffering the world's scariest knee injury (not that the actual injury was scary, just that it was Messi) yesterday, Barcelona's Lionel Messi worked out in the gym today. Its a good sign that the injury is not serious, but as his teammates trained ahead of their match against Real Betis, his status for the weekend remains in doubt. Which is probably fine.
Lionel Messi back to light training Thursday
Messi spoke with the press and said his knee feels much better despite fearing the worst after the initial collision with Benfica goalkeeper Artur Moraes.
“I sincerely thought it was the last ball I would be touching for a long time because of the pain. I tried to go ahead and shoot, but I didn’t have the strength”
He also admitted that he feared his career might be in jeopardy as he was carted off the pitch at the end of Barcelona’s scoreless draw with Benfica. The official club line is that Messi suffered a bruised left knee.
Head coach Tito Vilanova took some criticism for even playing Messi in what essentially was a meaningless game, but defended his decision saying they had talked about Messi playing 30 minutes and that "he's a player that likes to play".
With no Champions League matches until next year and a sizable lead in La Liga, Barcelona can likely afford to take it slow with Messi.
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